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:!:PLEASE! URGENT! FISH HELP NEEDED!:!:

3K views 18 replies 3 participants last post by  Little-Fizz 
#1 ·
Okay, I am buying three Mollies today. A female and male Dalmation, and a female Black. I am also buying a suckerfish of some sort. I am looking to breed. Right now I have a tank with rocks and a filter/pump. If I buy some plastic plants and put them in the corner will the fry be safe? What would happen if I just let a plastic plant float on the surface? Would the fry be safe there? As for feeding, How often do I feed the adults, and how often do I feed the fry? (they'll be in the same tank, so how do I go about that?) and If I rub tropical fish flakes between my fingers until it's fine, will that be okay for the fry? Also, how much do I feed the adults/fry? I'm sorry for all the questions. I just need to know before we go to the store tonight. and I can't but special food for the fry, or a breeding tank, so plants/rocks are going to be the only hiding place right now.

Please help,
Emphasy
 
#2 ·
Hmm...plastic plants may not be the way to go for fry. Only because they are seldom dense enough to prevent the parents from getting to the fry, and most of them will be eaten. If a separate tank is not an option, I would get some java moss. I have not kept any yet (but will be soon :D ) but it is supposed to be easy to take care of and does not require any special lighting (provided there is a light on the aquarium) or fertalizer. A floating plant may be good too such as water lettuce (which requires more light) or duckweed (don't get this if you mind having to pull loads of the stuff out of your tank though, it grows fast). Adult fish are usually fed 2 times a day, no more than they can eat in a couple minutes. But fry are often fed 6+- times. So if you plan to keep the two together I would feed small amounts 3 times a day to avoid over polluting your water. You can crush up regular tropical fish flake food in a bag and then feed to the fry, if you can put it near where your filter releases water (if you have a hang on back filter) the current should push it down to the bottom where the fry are. As for the adults, crush up the flakes a little between your fingers (they are always too big) and let those float on the surface. This setup is doable, but just realize that many of your fry will be eaten by the adults. If you are really looking to breed, a separate breeding tank would be ideal (maybe you could get this later on??). Have you thought about what you are going to do with the fry? Even without the breeding tank, they will still eventually overrun your tank unless it is really big. Good luck, molly fry are so cute :wink: !
 
#3 ·
Sorry, forgot to ask. You did cycle your tank, right?
 
#4 ·
Molly

I have everything ready, and i'm getting the fish tonight. I have a vase my two goldfish used to live in, but they died. If my fish do have fry, will I be able to scoop them out with the fish net I have? Or will the holes be too big? My water is cycled. I just can't get a breeding net or anything until they have the fry because I don't want my mom to know until it's too late! :wink: Hopefully for my birthday I'll get a 10 gallon, so I can keep the tank I have now for growing fry. That way they hopefully won't be eaten. I'm a little afraid the fry will get sucked into the filter though. Is that a rational fear?
 
#5 ·
Hmmm...

What about a Java fern? With the java moss how would I go about keeping it to about the size of a fist? does it just peel apart?
 
#6 ·
How big is your tank? Do you have a heater? Lights? If you have lights then I would go with real plants, but I would get a net to hang over the side of your tank to keep the fry in, theres no guarantee the fry will survive in a tank without many hiding spots and adult fish present. and yes, it is a rational fear to think they will be sucked up by the filter, cut the end off nylons (panty hose whatever you call them) and tie it around the intake of the filter so the holes are not big enough to suck the fry up.
 
#7 ·
Molly

I'm going to get some Java moss, but would a java fern be okay? What about a rock to swim through? My tank is 5, 5 1/2 gallons. I don't have a heater, but my water is the suggested temperature. I have lights, and I'll definately put a nylon sock over the filter.
 
#8 ·
Woah, hold up a second here. Theres no way your getting 3 mollies in a 5.5 gallon tank, AND trying to raise their fry, try again later with something more like a 20 gallon tank. The most your getting in that 5 gallon is like... A betta, maybe a few guppies too.


The sucker fish (I'm assuming that means a pleco) Is already to much for that 5.5 gallon tank to handle. Unless you wanted something like an otto.
 
#9 ·
Panicing!

I put the pantyhose on and black clouds started coming out of the filter and into the water. I'm going to take it off. What do I do now?
 
#10 ·
Molly

It sounds small, but the people at petsmart (5 of them) told us three max. I have a seperate thing for the fry. The tank is also quite large for a 5 gallon. They think it might even be bigger. and I'm getting a type of catfish that stays small.
 
#12 ·
Mollys

I read your last post, and I washed them before I put them in. What kind of net would I buy? I have a full hood on my tank with a small opening in the front that can be closed, and a medium strip in the back that my filter comes out of. I don't have room for a HUGE net.
 
#13 ·
It sounds small, but the people at petsmart (5 of them) told us three max. I have a seperate thing for the fry. The tank is also quite large for a 5 gallon. They think it might even be bigger. and I'm getting a type of catfish that stays small.
The people at pet smart are also just trying to sell you things, I on the other hand am not making any money off the advice I am giving you, so who would you rather trust? Theres no such thing as a tank being rather large for a 5 gallon, 5 gallons is 5 gallons. If your talking about the vase that you used to have goldfish in before they died (Their death more then likely had something to do with the vase) I would not house your fry in there because fry are ultra sensitive to water quality. What type of catfish are you getting? because no catfish stays small enough to be housed in a 5.5 gallon tank with three mollies, considering the three mollies shouldn't be housed in a 5.5 gallon tank.
 
#14 ·
Why are you so concerned about these fry already?? You don't even have the fish and its not like you'll end up with fry on the very first day you purchase the fish.

Plus I believe its more important you figure out how you are going to take care of the adults before you start thinking about the fry they will produce. I'm not giving you any more advice on how to raise the fry until you seriously take into consideration the health and well being of your other fish, and you clearly have not done that.
 
#15 ·
Mollys

I also asked an expert on another website, here is my question and answer.

Q:Okay, I am buying three Mollies today. A female and male Dalmation, and a female Black. I am also buying a suckerfish of some sort. I am looking to breed. Right now I have a tank with rocks and a filter/pump. If I buy some plastic plants and put them in the corner will the fry be safe? What would happen if I just let a plastic plant float on the surface? Would the fry be safe there? As for feeding, How often do I feed the adults, and how often do I feed the fry? (they'll be in the same tank, so how do I go about that?) and If I rub tropical fish flakes between my fingers until it's fine, will that be okay for the fry? Also, how much do I feed the adults/fry? I'm sorry for all the questions. I just need to know before we go to the store tonight. and I can't buy special food for the fry, or a breeding tank, so plants/rocks are going to be the only hiding place right now.

Please help,
Emphasy

A:The best thing you can do is buy a small breeder net/container that you can keep the fry in, these usually will float in the water in the tank you already have established. Other than that it will be very difficult to ensure the fry are getting proper nutrition, until they are big enough to make do on their own. They can easily eat crushed up fish flakes. Once they near normal size that they can eat on their own things should run smoothly it sounds like they have places to hide.

Feeding the fish, I feed mine every other day and they do fine. In the wild it takes them sometimes days to obtain the nutrients that flakes give them so they do very very well now that all the vitamins and things they need can be found in one flake, you should feed the babies daily. No more than they (babies and adults) can eat with in 15 minutes. There stomach is about the size of their eyeball, over feeding can get really bad.

Before you get a sucker fish, do you have any algae growth in your tank at the moment? (as most Plecostomous require 55-75 gallon tanks by the time they are full grown)

Chinese algae eaters stop eating algae and will turn aggressive on other fish. One I can suggest is an Otocinclus Catfish these guys stay small and do wonders cleaning algae from the glass! I hope this helps!
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#17 ·
mollys

I have a smaller pump, that dosn't have a filter. Do they ABSOLUTLY need the filter? The pump would be A LOT better in that tank.
 
#18 ·
Mollys

my grandma's had mollies in a community tank, and they didn't have a filter.
 
#19 ·
Why don't you go ask your 'expert' on the other site, or your friends down at pet smart.


Your expert on another forum also failed to ask what size your tank was. I'm sure if they had of known it was a 5.5 gallon they would have given you the exact same advice I gave you.

I wasn't going to reply to you anymore, but that filter question is ridiculous. Clearly you do not know anything about keeping fish and you should really be taking my advice to heart rather then ignoring it and going along with your plans.

Is your tank even cycled? Do you know anything about the nitrogen cycle? Do you know about the beneficial bacteria that thrive in your filter? It's good that you came for advice before you bought your fish, but why ask for help if you don't want to hear it? Why be so selfish and put your fish in harms way even though you've been told its not a good idea?
 
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